If you were to tell me that a Blackberry device would be able to run Android 4.0+ apps sooner than some Android phones I would crawl into a hole and die from laughter, but that just might happen if today’s news is accurate. Engadget has confirmed with Blackberry that the Android runtime, a compatibility layer that allows Blackberry 10 devices to run Android apps, will be getting an upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

This means it will be able to run virtually any Android application you can think of as long as the developer is willing to change a few lines of code. As we explained before, Blackberry (who used to be RIM, but will undergo a name change) would prefer developers to create native applications, but it is willing to use apps originally created for Android as a bridge while developers catch on.

Android apps on Blackberry 10 don’t quite look like they belong, but they work and they’re enough for the time being. The 4.x batch of apps should look even better than the ones coded for Android 2.3, so if anyone happens to buy a Blackberry 10 device anytime soon there should be no shortage of great apps to sink their teeth into.

Leeches? Amazon does the same thing with their kindles. They too use the Android OS for their own gain. On that matter, You could do it too if you wanted. It is a free OS that is open to anybody to do what they wish with it.

Yes, it is an Android device. But it is not certified by Google to have the Google apps pre-installed. Like Google Playstore, and other google apps. Amazon just took the OS and remade for their own purposes. Not that it is a bad thing. I say, Yes! More marketplace for my apps.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=653786823 Neto Lugo

I say let them run with it. I hope they do sell some units and pull it together. Having more options forces manufacturers to work harder to provide newer and better experiences. Innovation is a good thing. Now if people would stop whining about ERMAHGERD YO COPIED MAH STUFFS YO without any real evidence to back it up…We would be in a far better place. I want less carrier intervention and the freedom to do whatever the hell i please with my device on whatever network i choose.

Manbo

Shhhhhh. Quiet with your sound logic.

The internetz are not ready for common sense.

^_^

http://www.facebook.com/claudio.liriano Claudio Rudy Liriano

This will be nice for the playbook too.

blest

This is cool. Wish I liked BB.

jimmy

What they need to do is make blackberry 10 a manufacturer skin and switch to android. Blackberry makes the best hardware but android is the best software.

Big_EZ

I think they would have a chance if they switch to Android and bring their security and a few features

Abhijeet Mishra

And of course they need to bring the Qt-based core to Android as well and get rid of Java, so we can have good performance without needing powerful hardware. :P

Jonathan DeJesus

Welcone to the wonderful world of open source code. Steve Jobs must be in Hell wondering WTF?

http://www.phandroid.com Quentyn Kennemer

Come on, keep it a little more tactful than that.

Jordan Caviness

I know, if SJ is in hell, he probably bought himself a walk-in refrigerator…..

GregJG

never question jesus

Manbo

“No one f**ks with DeJesus!”

supremekizzle

BlackBerry just got relevant!

Joshua Saunders

Somehow this feels like cheating, in the “spirit of competition” sense. I like competition, but could you imagine the backlash if they had an iOS application layer?

This is very interesting…if they perfect this process, i may buy a blackberry device…can you say that the long hopeful, droidberry has arrived…but all that bezel!ugh!

Jeff72

You will all be assimilated. We are Android.

cckrobinson

Don’t get too excited just yet. There are a ton of games that were designed for Android 2.3 that couldn’t be coverted to run on the PlayBook because they used JNI (Java Native Interface). The Blackberry Android 2.3 runtime engine did not support JNI, so if your game used it you were out of luck. That includes ALL games that were written using AndEngine GLES2. I would be very pleasantly surprised if the 4.0 engine supports JNI, but I seriously doubt it will.